Asked by: Rob Roberts (Independent - Delyn)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have an outstanding overpayment of benefits as of 15 November 2023; what the value of those overpayments is; and how many of those cases are the result of an error by his Department.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The number of people with outstanding benefit overpayments recoverable by DWP and the total value of those debts as at 16 November 2023 is set out below:
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| Volume of Customers | 2.765m |
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| Outstanding Debt Value | £7.060bn |
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| *The data provided has been extracted from internal DWP management information and has therefore not been subject to the same quality assurance checks applied to our published official statistics. |
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As all overpayments of certain welfare benefits are recoverable in law, irrespective of how they occurred, there is no requirement to categorise departmental error in all cases and we cannot therefore provide this information.
Our latest full estimates on fraud and error can be found at Fraud and error in the benefit system Financial Year Ending (FYE) 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Rob Roberts (Independent - Delyn)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average amount of state pension paid to individuals who live outside the UK is; and if he will provide a breakdown of the average state pension payment in each country in which recipients reside.
Answered by Laura Trott - Shadow Secretary of State for Education
In November 2020, the average (mean) amount of State Pension paid to individuals who live outside the UK was £70.61 per week.
Table 1. Average Amount of State Pension paid to individuals who live outside the UK, November 2020
Residency | Mean Weekly State Pension Amount |
Outside United Kingdom | £ 70.61 |
Source: Stat-Xplore - Home (dwp.gov.uk)
Below is a table of the average (mean) amount of State Pension paid to individuals who live outside the UK, broken down by country of residence, in November 2020.
Table 2. Average Amount of State Pension by Country of Residence, November 2020
Country of Residence | Mean Weekly State Pension Amount |
Abroad - Not known | £ 112.62 |
Albania | £ 110.57 |
Alderney | £ 126.99 |
Algeria | £ 62.41 |
Andorra | £ 94.96 |
Anguilla | £ 64.93 |
Antigua | £ 74.02 |
Argentina | £ 65.18 |
Aruba | £ 60.29 |
Ascension Island | £ 91.68 |
Australia | £ 50.09 |
Austria | £ 49.24 |
Azerbaijan | £ 166.77 |
Bahamas | £ 66.64 |
Bahrain | £ 97.27 |
Bangladesh | £ 39.49 |
Barbados | £ 116.97 |
Belarus | £ 111.17 |
Belgium | £ 63.62 |
Belize | £ 85.01 |
Bermuda | £ 81.36 |
Bolivia | £ 106.19 |
Bosnia and Herzegovina | £ 73.12 |
Botswana | £ 75.98 |
Brazil | £ 81.20 |
Brunei | £ 121.78 |
Bulgaria | £ 122.47 |
Burkina Faso | £ 54.09 |
Cambodia | £ 119.76 |
Cameroon | £ 58.81 |
Canada | £ 46.34 |
Cape Verde | £ 52.18 |
Cayman Islands | £ 89.42 |
Chile | £ 72.13 |
China | £ 96.39 |
Colombia | £ 89.09 |
Cook Islands | £ 57.92 |
Costa Rica | £ 81.75 |
Cyprus | £ 122.54 |
Denmark | £ 58.40 |
Dom Commonwealth (Dominica) | £ 77.73 |
Dominican Republic | £ 107.52 |
Dutch Caribbean | £ 67.76 |
Ecuador | £ 85.95 |
Egypt | £ 78.64 |
El Salvador | £ 80.36 |
Equatorial Guinea | £ 142.11 |
Ethiopia | £ 88.34 |
Falkland Islands and Dependencies | £ 85.64 |
Faroe Islands | £ 33.01 |
Fiji | £ 73.66 |
Finland | £ 58.89 |
France | £ 113.52 |
French Overseas Departments | £ 84.34 |
French Polynesia | £ 55.84 |
Gambia | £ 91.46 |
Germany | £ 46.48 |
Ghana | £ 56.69 |
Gibraltar | £ 100.77 |
Greece | £ 109.44 |
Greenland | £ 23.21 |
Grenada | £ 77.33 |
Guam | £ 83.49 |
Guatemala | £ 77.73 |
Guernsey | £ 84.86 |
Guyana | £ 60.60 |
Honduras | £ 79.02 |
Hong Kong | £ 85.42 |
Hungary | £ 102.32 |
Iceland | £ 71.68 |
India | £ 50.10 |
Indonesia | £ 106.53 |
Iran | £ 70.85 |
Iraq | £ 64.11 |
Ireland | £ 66.41 |
Isle of Man | £ 127.85 |
Israel | £ 101.27 |
Italy | £ 56.79 |
Jamaica | £ 116.05 |
Japan | £ 46.97 |
Jersey | £ 70.02 |
Jordan | £ 67.90 |
Kazakhstan | £ 124.13 |
Kenya | £ 79.34 |
Kuwait | £ 103.54 |
Kyrgyzstan | £ 76.07 |
Laos | £ 100.66 |
Lebanon | £ 88.20 |
Lesotho | £ 59.64 |
Liechtenstein | £ 28.62 |
Luxembourg | £ 83.34 |
Macau | £ 77.52 |
Madagascar | £ 62.23 |
Malawi | £ 71.90 |
Malaysia | £ 77.87 |
Malta | £ 104.22 |
Mauritius | £ 108.25 |
Mexico | £ 74.98 |
Moldova | £ 124.94 |
Monaco | £ 111.96 |
Montserrat | £ 65.67 |
Morocco | £ 75.51 |
Mozambique | £ 74.56 |
Myanmar | £ 84.84 |
Namibia | £ 70.17 |
Nepal | £ 63.99 |
Netherlands | £ 55.81 |
Nevis, St Kitts-Nevis | £ 75.56 |
New Caledonia | £ 79.61 |
New Zealand | £ 46.44 |
Nicaragua | £ 79.72 |
Nigeria | £ 27.65 |
Norfolk Island | £ 55.18 |
North Macedonia | £ 24.20 |
Norway | £ 58.24 |
Oman | £ 89.53 |
Pakistan | £ 48.74 |
Panama | £ 96.96 |
Papua New Guinea | £ 75.49 |
Paraguay | £ 68.41 |
Peru | £ 88.02 |
Philippines | £ 138.86 |
Poland | £ 59.39 |
Portugal | £ 119.47 |
Puerto Rico | £ 77.32 |
Qatar | £ 113.55 |
Republic of Croatia | £ 62.10 |
Republic of Estonia | £ 78.98 |
Republic of Georgia | £ 129.54 |
Republic of Latvia | £ 68.34 |
Republic of Lithuania | £ 42.71 |
Republic of Slovenia | £ 60.38 |
Romania | £ 99.40 |
Russia | £ 85.51 |
Saint Helena & Dependencies | £ 89.27 |
San Marino | £ 29.33 |
Sark | £ 117.68 |
Saudi Arabia | £ 86.88 |
Senegal | £ 74.13 |
Serbia | £ 123.58 |
Seychelles | £ 79.10 |
Sierra Leone | £ 52.66 |
Singapore | £ 89.20 |
Solomon Islands | £ 79.08 |
Somalia | £ 44.20 |
South Africa | £ 56.52 |
South Korea | £ 41.69 |
Spain | £ 120.61 |
Sri Lanka | £ 59.98 |
St Lucia | £ 76.63 |
St Vincent & Grenadines | £ 80.10 |
State Union of Serbia and Montenegro | £ 53.44 |
Sudan | £ 71.27 |
Suriname | £ 151.95 |
Swaziland | £ 79.26 |
Sweden | £ 57.52 |
Switzerland | £ 51.98 |
Syria | £ 63.61 |
Tahiti | £ 77.00 |
Taiwan | £ 105.85 |
Tanzania | £ 87.61 |
Thailand | £ 119.10 |
The Czech Republic | £ 92.30 |
The Slovak Republic | £ 49.82 |
Togo | £ 50.10 |
Tonga | £ 73.36 |
Tours (Individuals on Tour) | £ 133.34 |
Trinidad & Tobago | £ 55.37 |
Tunisia | £ 88.16 |
Turkey | £ 132.24 |
Turks and Caicos Islands | £ 118.32 |
Uganda | £ 88.33 |
Ukraine | £ 115.86 |
United Arab Emirates | £ 107.46 |
United States | £ 74.19 |
United States Minor Outlying Islands | £ 75.89 |
Uruguay | £ 77.74 |
Vanuatu | £ 85.86 |
Venezuela | £ 67.62 |
Vietnam | £ 125.09 |
Virgin Islands (British) | £ 91.77 |
Virgin Islands (USA) | £ 72.74 |
Western Samoa | £ 34.12 |
Yemen | £ 42.90 |
Zambia | £ 75.67 |
Zimbabwe | £ 48.98 |
Source: Stat-Xplore - Home (dwp.gov.uk)
Asked by: Rob Roberts (Independent - Delyn)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an estimate of (a) the cost to the public purse of increasing the State Pension paid to UK pensioners resident overseas to the level it would have been had it increased in line with inflation in each year since 2010 and (b) the cost to the public purse of continuing to increase the State Pension paid to UK pensioners resident overseas in line with inflation in each year between 2023 and 2030, starting from that value.
Answered by Laura Trott - Shadow Secretary of State for Education
UK State Pensions are payable worldwide and up-rated overseas where there is a legal requirement to do so. The policy on up-rating UK State Pensions overseas is long-standing and has been supported by successive post-war Governments for over 70 years.
In response to (a): No recent assessment has been made of the annual cost of uprating the UK State Pension to UK pensioners living abroad.
In response to (b): The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Rob Roberts (Independent - Delyn)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many individuals in receipt of state pension outside the UK reside in (a) a Commonwealth and (b) a non-Commonwealth country.
Answered by Laura Trott - Shadow Secretary of State for Education
There are around 465,000 individuals who are in receipt of State Pension who reside in a Commonwealth country (excluding the UK) and there are around 688,000 individuals who are in receipt of State Pension who reside in a non-Commonwealth Country.
Table 1. The number of individuals who are in receipt of the UK State Pension and reside outside the UK, grouped by whether they live in a Commonwealth or non-Commonwealth country, November 2020
Country Type | Number of Individuals in receipt of State Pension |
Commonwealth (Exl UK) | 465,000 |
Non-Commonwealth | 688,000 |
*Rounded to the nearest 1000
Source: Stat-Xplore - Home (dwp.gov.uk)
Asked by: Rob Roberts (Independent - Delyn)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress his Department has made on the implementation of pension dashboards.
Answered by Laura Trott - Shadow Secretary of State for Education
The Government has made significant progress in implementing pensions dashboards, working in close collaboration with key delivery partners including the Pensions Dashboards Programme which is part of the Money and Pensions Service, the Pensions Regulator and the Financial Conduct Authority.
Following extensive consultation with industry and other interested parties, the Department laid the draft Pensions Dashboards Regulations 2022, in Parliament on 17 October 2022. This was an important milestone, setting out detailed requirements for occupational pension schemes and for organisations seeking to provide a qualifying pensions dashboard service. The Regulations were subsequently approved in Parliament on 16 November 2022 and are due to come into force this winter. Alongside this, the Financial Conduct Authority intends to publish final rules for personal and stakeholder pensions shortly and The Pensions Regulator is providing support to help schemes meet their connection deadlines, including through guidance and writing to schemes at least 12 months ahead of their deadline.
The Pensions Dashboards Programme is responsible for delivering the digital architecture that will make dashboards work. They published their latest progress report on 26 October 2022 outlining key milestones and next steps, such as finalising a suite of operational and technical standards for dashboards. The Programme intends to consult on design standards this winter. The PDP has consulted on the data, technical, code of connection, and reporting standards relating to dashboards and will publish a response later this year. The overall delivery timetable remains on track with the Programme focused on building and testing the digital architecture to enable the first cohort of schemes to connect from April 2023.
Asked by: Rob Roberts (Independent - Delyn)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has taken steps to reduce the number of assessments a disabled person is required to go through in order to access support when a significant change in their circumstances is unlikely.
Answered by Chloe Smith
In 2018 we introduced updated PIP guidance which ensures that those people who receive the highest level of support, and where their needs are unlikely to change or may get worse, will receive an ongoing award with a light touch review at the ten-year point.
We have also made good progress in reducing repeat assessments. For example, through the Severe Conditions criteria, we have stopped repeat assessments for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and Universal Credit for people with the most severe and lifelong conditions.
We also announced in the Green Paper last year that we will test a new Severe Disability Group (SDG) so that those with severe and lifelong conditions can benefit from a simplified process to access PIP, ESA and Universal Credit without needing to go through a face-to-face assessment or frequent reassessments. We will consider the test results once complete to influence thinking on the next stages of this work.
We have and will continue to look at our benefit processes and procedures to ensure that the overall claimant experience is what they rightly expect and deserve.
Asked by: Rob Roberts (Independent - Delyn)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department has taken in this Parliament to help disabled people get into work and close the disability employment gap.
Answered by Chloe Smith
A range of DWP initiatives are supporting disabled people and people with health conditions to live independent lives and start, stay and succeed in work. These include the Work and Health Programme, the Intensive Personalised Employment Support programme, Access to Work, Disability Confident. and support in partnership with the health system, including Employment Advice in NHS Improving Access to Psychological Therapy services.
Over the next three years we will invest £1.3bn in employment support for disabled people and people with health conditions.
In 2017 the Government set a goal to see one million more disabled people in employment between 2017 and 2027. The latest figures released for Q1 2022 show that between Q1 2017 and Q1 2022 the number of disabled people in employment increased by 1.3m – meaning the goal has been met after only five years.
The disability employment gap was 28.2 percentage points in Q1 2022. This is a decrease of 0.2 percentage points on the year, a decrease of 0.5 percentage points since Q1 2020 and an overall decrease of 5.6 percentage points since the same quarter in 2014.
Asked by: Rob Roberts (Independent - Delyn)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps her Department has taken to reduce the level of child poverty across the UK.
Answered by David Rutley
The latest available data on in-work poverty shows that in 2019/20, children in households where all adults were in work were around six times less likely to be in absolute poverty (before housing costs) than children in a household where nobody works. Compared with 2010, there are nearly 1 million fewer workless households and almost 540,000 fewer children living in workless households in the UK. Since 2010, there are also 200,000 fewer children in absolute poverty before housing costs.
This Government is committed to reducing child poverty and supporting low-income families, and believes work is the best route out of poverty. With a record 1.3 million vacancies across the UK, our focus is firmly on supporting people to move into and progress in work. This approach is based on clear evidence about the importance of parental employment - particularly where it is full-time – in substantially reducing the risks of child poverty and in improving long-term outcomes for families and children.
Our multi-billion-pound Plan for Jobs has protected, supported and created jobs across the country. This includes our Way to Work campaign, which between January 31 and June 21, we estimate has seen at least 485,000 unemployed Universal Credit claimants have moved into work.
Asked by: Rob Roberts (Independent - Delyn)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps her Department has taken to ensure that there are appropriate sanctions for people who commit benefit fraud.
Answered by David Rutley
On 19 May 2022, we published our plan for Fighting Fraud in the Welfare System, setting out how the Department will root out existing fraud in the system and prevent new fraudulent claims being made. The £600 million plan will boost the counter-fraud frontline with 2000 additional staff, and is estimated to save taxpayers £2 billion over three years.
The plan also outlines a range of additional strong measures that we intend to introduce, when Parliamentary time allows, to future proof our work tackle fraud and error. This includes the commitment to introduce a new civil penalty for cases of fraud which can be applied where cases meet a civil burden of proof, sitting below criminal fraud but above error.
This action will ensure that fewer people escape punishment when they have committed wrongdoing, and that the consequence reflects the cost to the taxpayers.
DWP has a published penalty policy [Penalties policy: in respect of social security fraud and error - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)), which sets out the range of penalties currently available for benefit fraud. This includes financial penalties, prosecution, loss of benefit penalties and seeking redress through proceeds of crime.
Asked by: Rob Roberts (Independent - Delyn)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has had recent discussions with (a) officials in her Department and (b) Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits of a temporary uplift to disability benefits in order to support people with disabilities with the rising cost of living in the context of those people potentially having to power specialist machinery and equipment as a result of their needs.
Answered by Chloe Smith
I meet regularly with Ministers and officials from across Government to discuss a wide range of issues related to support for disabled people, including rising costs.
The government has announced a package of support to help households with rising energy bills, worth £9.1 billion in 2022-23. This includes: